Colvin and Clay loved the Mountain State’s hills and valleys. Spending time in Afghanistan gave them an added appreciation for West Virginia. College took them away, but they both returned to Naoma after graduation. Maybe it was their age or a newfound love of nature, but they realized all was not green. Mountains were being topped off for surface coal mining, rubble-filled the valleys, and streams were polluted. Ordinary people were becoming poorer, and large coal companies were getting richer by the day. They wanted to do something, but what? They finally found a group with environmental concerns they could support – the Green Space Environmental Association (GSEA). They became active members.
One night in the fall of 2021, while driving home from a bar, Colvin complained, “The focus on fundraisers and mailings is not going to get public attention.” Maybe it was the alcohol, but Colvin suddenly bellowed, “Why don’t you and I start our group? We don’t need an outside group to get attention to what is happening here in West Virginia.”
Clay reached over and turned up the radio, proclaiming, “God, I love this band.” Moving his head back and forth, Colvin turned it up even louder. The beat was mesmerizing. The drums and guitar hammered out the sweet sound of “Thirty” by Karma to Burn, a desert rock band from Morgan Town, West Virginia. Clay pounded out the beat on the dashboard. Colvin yelled, “Yes, that’s it!”
Further down the road, Clay turned down the radio. “Let’s do it. You and I know what’s going on in these hills. It’s time everyone else knows, too.”
Colvin nodded in agreement.
Clay turned to look at Colvin and said, “Just last year, they gave that unethical company another 1.7 miles of mountaintop removal on Coal River Mountain.” That poor excuse of a company will fill the valleys and pollute the streams for generations, and you think Green Space will stop it? People like your brother Asher are paying with their health while coal companies like Necro Metallum Corporation and lining their pockets. They continue to scar the mountains, destroy our homes, and spread carcinogenic dust all over our hills and valleys. Spittle from Clay’s mouth landed on the dashboard. His fists were clenched, and he slammed one into the door.
Colvin’s eyes were directed forward as if in a trance. He promised in a low voice, “I’m going to make him pay.” Five more minutes down the road, Colvin turned and looked at Clay, whose head was on the window. He was fast asleep.
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